Electromagnetic pulse conference planned

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 29 (UPI) -- A group of Western New Yorkers, backed by the head of a food company, says it is planning a conference this fall on the dangers of electromagnetic pulse.

The possibility that a nuclear device detonated at high altitude could destroy all circuit boards below sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, the head of Steuben Foods, Henry Schwartz, told The Buffalo (N.Y.) News.

But Schwartz says it isn't beyond the realm of possibility and could paralyze modern civilization by knocking out everything that depends on electricity.

Schwartz announced his group EMPACT America would hold a conference on the matter at Niagara Falls, N.Y., in early September.

The threat of electromagnetic pulse has gained traction with some members of Congress, Defense Department staffers and even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"It sits in a long range of hysterical predictions about nukes that have been going on since 1945," says John Muller, a professor at Ohio State University.